THE USE OF VIDEO IN THE ESL CLASSROOM AT A UNIVERSITY LEVEL

It is widely known that Information and Communication Technology is nowadays a key factor in the education field, especially after the boost received with the publication of ICT competency standards for teachers (Unesco 2008). Within this framework, multimedia materials stand out as extremely valuable resources for teaching, especially for foreign language teaching.
It is often said that an image is worth a thousand words and, as a matter of fact, images have proved to be especially effective when it comes to teaching. It seems clear that there is a link between the use of video as an instructional tool and improved learning in different subjects. This paper focuses on the use of video to teach ESL to college students who aim to become teachers.
In such a scenario, we can work with different types of video content, both in the classroom and in a virtual environment, to achieve diverse objectives. Firstly, the display of videos produced for educational purposes allows teachers to work specific grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation issues. Secondly, real English videos (films, news, series, documentaries...), when correctly used, offer several advantages: they boost students’ motivation, they offer real usage language, and they add a cultural background which is essential for mastering a foreign language. Thirdly, we have the option of using videos as a creative tool proposing students the possibility of recording and editing their own works. On the one hand, our students can record themselves in order to carry out self assessment of their productions; on the other hand, they can also use one of the several software applications which allow them to download and edit video so that they can create their own products and share it with their peers, encouraging collaborative work.
This paper will describe and analyse the different possibilities of using videos as a tool for promoting learning and self learning in ESL students in the Teaching Studies degree.